High Unemployment and Low Acceptance Reduce Integration of Asylum Seekers into the German Labor Market
The level of unemployment in a region and the willingness of its population to accept refugees have a significant impact on the success of the integration process in Germany. This is according to an analysis in the latest ifo Schnelldienst. “Low unemployment in a district makes it easier for migrants to take up jobs there and thus to integrate,” writes Panu Poutvaara, Director of the ifo Center for International Institutional Comparisons and Migration Research. “A reform to the distribution mechanism should take greater account of the German states’ integration capacity. For example, it could consider tax revenue per capita or job vacancies in the region.”
Germany currently distributes asylum seekers among its states according to the Königstein distribution key, which takes into account population size and economic output. Distribution among the districts is then largely based on the number of inhabitants. According to calculations by the ifo Institute, the probability of refugees finding employment drops by 5 percentage points if they are sent to a district where unemployment is 1 percentage point higher. If they succeed in finding a job, the wage is a full 35 percent lower on average when unemployment is 1 percentage point higher.
At the EU level, the findings do not support an even distribution of refugees among member states: “If asylum seekers are sent to less accepting countries, the risk of failed integration increases – with subsequent costs,” Poutvaara says.
ifo Schnelldienst 10/2023: European Asylum and Integration Policy
Schulterschluss oder Sackgasse – gelingt Europa eine wirksame Asyl- und Integrationspolitik?
ifo Institut, München, 2023
ifo Schnelldienst, 2023, 76, Nr. 10, 03-28
